Stirring Up Trouble for Someone Other (All of a Sudden)
by Ramzes
Summary: That's Dyanna Dayne's first visit to the Seven Kingdoms. And it ends up in riot. Literally. Part 1 of The Flash of a Star: The Dyanna Dayne Chronicles


Stirring Up Trouble for Someone Other

(All of a Sudden)

 **Part 1 of The Flash of a Star: The Dyanna Dayne Chronicles**

When Dyanna Dayne first saw the magnificent castle of Dragonstone, she cried out in delight. "It's a dragon, a herd of dragons!" she kept repeating, pointing with a small pale hand, jumping up and down and pushing forward to see so excitedly that a sailor leaving his shift ran over and yanked her from the railing to carry her inside, all the while muttering excuses, although his calloused hands caused the little girl no pain at all.

"What?" her father asked all of a sudden and she groaned. Why did he have to come out now, of all times? He was very stern and he took her antics very hard… He had taken her imitation of the captain roaring orders particularly badly – in fact Dyanna was still supposed to stay in her cabin over this one…

"Err, m'lord, the lil' lady was somewhat lost," the sailor started explaining. "She was scared, she was, and she couldn't open the door, so I had to take her out as she was crying with fear, the poor thing…"

A furtive look upward showed Dyanna that her father was not believing the tale. Lord Dayne gave the unfortunate man a stern look. "She was?" he asked. "Thank you very much for your help," he added and Dyanna sighed with relief and tugged at her father's arm to get him away as he was still feeling generous. She would hate if she got someone other in trouble and it happened sometimes. _Perhaps Father remembers that the sailors were over themselves laughing when I imitated the captain_ , she thought. _I was very good, wasn't I?_ Her dark eyebrows gathered together at the memory of the captain staring at her pensively after recovering from his laughing fit. "I don't know if I pity her future lord, or envy him," he had said. "His life with her will be an adventure, m'lord, that's for sure." Dyanna still wasn't sure if this was a compliment… Adventure was good, wasn't it? She loved reading about adventures. She'd love to live one. Her eyes shot to the dragon castle. Perhaps there was a real dragon inside? That's what they said, that Dragonstone was an abode of dragons. It would be so exciting if she saw one flying. She squinted, to better see the grey spirals of mist rising from a strangely shaped hill. Perhaps one of the dragon was sleeping there and breathing fire? No, it was no fire, just smoke. Dyanna scowled.

"What now?" her father asked tiredly. "I swear by the Seven, child, if I knew just how bothersome you'd prove, I would have left you in Starfall indefinitely. What's the problem now?"

"The air," Dyanna explained, disgusted. "Does it come from the dragon's nose? It must be vile if so!"

Davos Dayne only looked at the sky as if hoping he'd see the Father nodding at him with some words of wisdom and guidance… and patience.

"Go back to your cabin!" he ordered angrily. "Dress yourself properly. And do not have a peek out of your door, or else you'll spend our entire time here on the ship!"

Dyanna looked down and ran to the cabin, hoping to reach it before her father. Septa Angarel had been pounding the door with her fists for her charge to let her out when Dyanna had escaped…

* * *

The closer they came to the dragon castle, the more excited Dyanna became, pointing at this tower or that gargoyle. But she took care not to try and squeeze out of her father's hand. She knew the signs. Right now, Father looked ready to throw her over his knee and give her a good spanking…

"What's this?" Davos Dayne murmured under his breath. "A madhouse?"

 _No_ , Dyanna thought. _It's a gathering of children!_ The joyful yells could not be mistaken, the cheering… and beneath that, the splashing of water. Eagerly, she wished that she could join them _right now_. The journey by ship had been a lonely one, with only Father and Septa Angarel. And the last months at Starfall had been lonely and full of grief as well.

The next bend of the road took them directly to what made her gasp with delight.

It was a pool, a pool carved straight into the rock on the edge of sea. It lacked a wall separating it from the sea and in fact, it was fed by the waves. It was not as beautiful as the bright sea at Starfall but it was real, grey and everything. White foam covered it and rose further, stirred by the movements of the many bodies splashing in it. Dyanna could see two older boys in a fierce swimming competition and she yelled encouragingly to both of them and then looked at her father guiltily. Fortunately, the din had prevented him from noticing her lapse.

Finally, Lord Dayne headed for two women seated a little away from the stone bowl.

"Excuse me," he said. "If we go on this way, will we be admitted, or should we go to the main gate?"

The women looked at him and Dyanna rolled her eyes when the young one checked her hair immediately. That was what many women did at seeing her father which annoyed her mother very much.

"It depends," she said. "What are you here for?"

Now, Father looked like he had realized that he had broken the rules and Dyanna exulted in his misbehavior. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm Davos Dayne. And that's my daughter Dyanna. I've come here on Princess Mariah's business…"

"I see," the old woman replied. "Very well, I am the Queen Dowager. And yes, you will be admitted if you tell them what you said to me."

Dyanna gasped. A queen! She tried to push around her father to see her better but the woman caught her eye and shook her head, as if she _knew_ that Father wouldn't approve. Dyanna squinted at her to see her better. She was indeed as beautiful as a queen but she was so very _old_! The girl couldn't decide if she was disappointed or awed.

Father bowed and started up the path. Dyanna stayed where she was and her eyes moved from the queen to the pool. Terrible disappointment crashed over her – and curiosity. "Why aren't any girls here?" she asked and neglecting her father's order to start walking, she turned to a boy who stood quite near holding an open book in his hands and dripping water all over it. He looked about her own age – seven. And he looked like her, with fair skin and violet eyes. His hair was as silver as Astra's had been. Dyanna decided that she could like him.

"No," she said. "I want to know. Why do I see only boys?"

He rolled his eyes. "Because it isn't proper."

This word again! Proper, proper, proper! Mother, Father, Septa Angarel, her grandmother – everyone insisted that Proper was so very important. It was not proper to sneak behind the grooms as they supped and listen to their stories – not understanding many of the words, of course. It was not proper to run out halfway through her lesson and plunge straight into the sea. It was not proper to inspect Ultor's weapons closely… She glared at him and decided that she didn't like him at all.

"When is the girls' time to swim?" she asked.

"There isn't any," the boy replied and Dyanna gaped, disgruntled.

"And Princess Mariah allows that!" she exclaimed angrily. "In Dorne, we'd never…"

"It isn't Dorne here," he reminded her. "And she's wed to a Targaryen prince. She cannot…"

Princess Mariah was even wed to the future king. Was this what being a queen was like? Suddenly, Dyanna wasn't sure that it was such a great thing after all. "Well, I'll _never_ wed a Targaryen prince if they observe such stupid rules," she declared. "They must be very stupid themselves."

"Well," he replied archly, "I can't see the prince who will want to wed _you_. You seem to be a real pain in the… In the head," he finished, quite unconvincingly.

Dyanna glared. "Oh! You're such a lout!"

"And you have no manners. I really can't see…"

 _No, you can't_ , Dyanna thought triumphantly. He really couldn't see… the boy who was approaching him from behind, clearly aiming to grab the book from his hands. She wanted to stay and see the event taking place but Father grabbed her by the hand and dragged her up the path. The sudden yell behind her had to suffice.

* * *

Somewhat to her surprise, the children at Dragonstone turned out to be much nicer than she had expected, given her unfortunate meeting with the boy she now knew was Prince Maekar, the new King's youngest son. Since the day of her arrival coincided with the day they learned of the old King's death, the castle of Dragonstone became a hushed place of mourning – or pretended mourning, as Dyanna was old enough to realize. Which meant that entertainments were cut off.

Still, she spent most of her time with other children. Other girls. Somewhat to her surprise, their contacts with boys were much more limited than at Starfall where boys and girls ran together much more often. Oh, Dyanna was good enough at traditional girl pastimes not to stand out but she thought those new girls were too modest, too lazy. No one wanted to go riding with her and in fact, she was told that no groom would saddle her a pony, let alone accompany her. When, still not knowing any better, she asked when the new King and his family were leaving for King's Landing and which great lords would attend the ceremony, her question was met with a shocked silence and an older girl hissed that it was men's business. Dyanna realized that her first day at Dragonstone was turning into a great failure already. But she was saved by the entering of a young woman, black of hair and eye and richly dressed. "I think we'll be leaving in a fortnight," the woman said and she looked the only one unfazed at Dyanna's question.

Everyone curtsied and she nodded at them to rise as she crossed the room to Dyanna. "You're the Dayne girl, aren't you?" she asked. "You look like your father…"

Next to her, the Queen stirred. "She looks Dornish all right," she said. "In fact, she already managed to pick up a quarrel with Maekar. She reminds me of another Dornish I met years ago."

The woman's eyes turned interested. Dyanna had the distinct impression that had it not been for the mourning, she would have smiled. "I daresay it'll do my son some good," she said. "No matter who was in the right."

"I was," Dyanna said and then realized, perhaps for the first time in her life, that she was displaying a terrifying lack of manners. But just a heartbeat later, it was downed by the sudden enlightenment that this woman, this fellow Dornishwoman, was the Queen. The Queen! No one else had ever been Queen of Westeros if they had not been of dragon blood, save for the traitor queen of Oldtown. But here she was. The Queen. And she was like Dyanna. She looked like her mother, a little. She spoke like Dyanna. The girl puffed up her chest a little.

"Ah, that's where you've been," a male voice said from the door and everyone started to curtsey but the old Queen stopped them with a sweeping gesture of her hand.

"I believe," she spoke slowly, "that I should be the first one to curtsey to Your Grace. I insist on that privilege."

In front of Dyanna's shocked eyes, the old woman swept a curtsey so low that she was bound to drop down straight on her behind under all those skirts. It was a miracle that she didn't. And the fact that she kept her back perfectly straight and her head under the most exquisite angle was hard to believe.

King Daeron held out a hand and helped her rise. Then, he did the same with his wife who was clearly seeing him for the first time since the news broke out. As she was finally allowed to curtsey, Dyanna stole a look at him, looking for any resemblance to his unlikeable son. Fortunately, there was none.

* * *

"So, the King and Queen have no daughters?" Dyanna asked. "Not even one who died?"

Jeyne Waters shook her head. "None," she said. "The King said that Princess Mariah – the Queen, I mean – is only good for boys."

Dyanna frowned. It did not sound like a compliment. She looked down at her embroidery, trying the new seam the older girl showed her, and pricked her finger immediately.

"Personally, I think it's better when one has sisters," Jeyne said. "I only have brothers and they are awful."

"Sisters can be pretty awful, too," Dyanna comforted her. "Astrea is still a babe but she's already clinging to me and crying when I try to walk away. And Astra never let me use her facial paints. Lately, she had only been talking about boys."

Still, she missed her. Her eyes welled up. Jeyne pretended not to notice. "Astra and Astrea," she said. "How sweet!"

"I don't think so," Dyanna snapped and willed those stupid tears away. "Astrea was born only a few months after Astra died and I happen to think she would have been better off with a name of her own."

Jeyne's gasp attracted a few more girls to them. "Your sister died?" she exclaimed. "That's awful!"

Dyanna nodded. "We all think so," she said. "My brother thrashed a boy very badly for saying that he must be glad because he'd now inherit Starfall. Ultor never wanted it. Starfall was always Astra's."

The girls around her looked confused. "But he was the boy."

Dyanna rolled her eyes, pleased to have the theme changed. "What of it?"

"Boys always inherit," someone said.

Didn't they _understand_? Astra had been the eldest. She told them so.

"But boys always inherit," Jeyne insisted. "Over all of their sisters. That's how it is."

Dyanna's eyes went wide. It couldn't be true, could it? "You mean that if Mother and Father have a boy now, Starfall would go to Ultor first and the boy next? Astrea and I will be just _overlooked_?

The septa at Dragonstone came near, alarmed by her loud voice. "Please, Lady Dyanna. Things are different here."

"She's lying!" someone cried. "I knew it."

"I am not lying!" Dyanna yelled and scoured the crowd for the offender. Once she located her, she'd give her that fist under the chin that she knew from Ultor.

Pandemonium broke out, attracting handmaidens and guards from the entire wing. The septa held her head, trying to restore order and muttering that the Queen would surely send her away. Finally, the girls calmed down enough to clear the matter. Dyanna was shocked to find out that in the Seven Kingdoms, boys did indeed inherit over their elder sisters – and the girls were equally shocked to find out that in most of Dorne, the eldest daughter could inherit.

"Queen Mariah was to be the Princess of Dorne," Dyanna explained. "But she gave up her rights so she could marry the king."

The septa nodded.

"How romantic," Jeyne sighed. "To give up everything for love…"

"It wasn't out of love," the septa said harshly. "The King and Queen didn't know each other then. They were as young as Lady Dyanna is now. But they were true to their duty."

Dyanna looked at her suspiciously. She didn't like the emphasis the old woman put on _duty_. It sounded… so bleak!

"Princess Aliandra was also true to her duty," she announced. "She wanted to know who the best men in Dorne were, so she tested all lords and knights for their bravery."

"Or their brigandage…" the septa murmured. Dyanna didn't pay her any attention.

"And then she chose a powerful husband, of course. One who was worthy to take the seat next to hers…"

"A woman choosing her own husband?" Meliora Celtigar exclaimed and a sigh of envy filled the room.

"Well, yes, of course!" Dyanna replied, although she knew it wasn't the truth. And then, the little demon of sand residing in her heart prompted her to keep embellishing. "We, Dornish girls, can do anything we like. We can impose our will of men. And we can choose what's best for us, of course."

The demon cackled and kept prodding her into going on with the lies. The enraptured eyes of her audience did the rest. At one point, even the septa started shaking her head and muttering about sand savages. She had believed her as well!

Dyanna went on, trying to keep track on her most outrageous clams. At least that.

* * *

The noise reached the practice yard in the early afternoon – girls screaming, men bellowing. Threats on both sides…

"What did the Dayne do?" Maekar wondered and brought his sword down, certain that whenever a girl trouble was brewing, she was involved.

From his corner of the yard, Baelor looked up at the towers, clearly wondering what was going on. Maekar looked at his rival. "Come on, Viserys," he said. "Let's see what's going on."

Without thinking much, the two boys left the yard over the indignant yells of the master-at-arms and headed straight for the terrace where many of the new King and Queen's retinues spent their afternoons. The first person they saw was Lord Tristen of Sunglass looming over his daughter who was shaking her head in a fierce refusal. "I will not!" she yelled. "Why should I obey Garkon anyway? He's younger than me!"

Maekar and Viserys looked at each other, not understanding. But when they moved forward, things became getting clearer. Because Meliora Celtigar was just explaining to her grandfather that she wouldn't marry her betrothed. "He's even older than you are!" she insisted. "I wish we were in Dorne, you wouldn't dare…"

Viserys looked at Maekar. "Is it true?" he asked.

"How would I know?" Maekar asked back. "I don't know!"

"The Dayne girl says it is," Viserys said. "Jeyne told me… that she'd like to wed someone of her own choosing…"

He paused and they looked at each other. They were thinking the same thing.

"I wish to the Seven that she were here," Maekar said angrily. "So she can see what she's done!"

But Dyanna and her father were away, at Driftmark. They only returned in three days, at which point the bruises on the faces of some of the girls were still visible.

"What happened?" Dyanna asked, stunned, when she took her place at the high table – unfortunately, next to Maekar.

He looked at her with disdain. "The lies you told the girls caused a riot and a punishment," he said. "They refused to acknowledge their fathers' authority and insisted that they were robbed if a younger brother came before them. It took my lady mother's own intervention to set things right. They now know just how far you went with your tales."

Dyanna closed her eyes in horror. She hadn't meant for things to go so far! Her stupid tales, her wish to show off a little had brought over such a thing for those other girls. Even when spanking her, her father had never gone so far. How could she look any of them in the eye anymore? They had accepted her so nicely. And she had… Oh gods!

"I'm sorry," she said as soon as the supper became more informal and she had the chance to slip to Meliora's seat. "I didn't mean to… I didn't want…"

To her surprise, the other girl grinned through her split lip. "Oh not at all!" she said airily. "I am not sorry for the lip at all. I'll never forget my father's face when I told him I wouldn't wed Lord Edvar and that I intend to choose a Dornish lord instead."

Dyanna shook her head. "I am sorry," she said again and looked at the girls. Septa Emalan gave her a stern look but she could not hide her approval at the girl's behavior. Dyanna exhaled with relief when she saw that the septa, at least, seemed intact. Some of the girls glared at her but others smiled as if her apology had made everything all right. From the high table, Maekar Targaryen stared at her astounded, having grasped the meaning of the scene immediately. She smiled at him sweetly, reveling at his displeasure at seeing her forgiven and made place for next to Jeyne.

Those were the memories she took with her to Starfall – the girls' forgiveness and Maekar's dislike which corresponded only to her own in intensity.


End file.
